My Introduction

Top of the morning to everyone! I would like to say that I am thrilled to be starting this adventure of learning, and I am especially looking forward to getting to know everyone that is a part of it too. My name is Charity Jackson. My introduction here may seem to be a little all over the place but my journey in life has been a little all over the place so it is a good representation of me. In 2012, I enlisted in the United States Navy as a Cryptologic Technician Interpretive (CTI) specializing in Mandarin Chinese. I went on to become a Cryptologic Warfare Officer and Space Cadre Officer. I just completed a deployment on the USS DWIGHT D EISENHOWER. Throughout my time in the Navy, I have also been Adjunct Faculty for the National Cryptologic School where I taught courses in Pedagogy to new Adjunct Faculty (most teachers for this school were Adjunct) and courses in Analysis. Before I entered the military, I taught 7th-9th Grades Science and 9th-12th Grades French as well as coached Middle/High School Girls’ Volleyball. I have a Master of Education degree in Secondary Education.

I absolutely loved teaching and coaching. I went into the military because I wanted to do something different in the field of education. I didn’t know what that would look like, but I knew that I wanted to take the opportunity to explore a different path. Throughout my entire time in the military, I have always been involved in training and education even if my full-time job was something completely unrelated. I gained exposure to unique and diverse systems of training and also to adult education. Last year, I made the decision to pursue my love of teaching and learning full-time and I will be transitioning into the Reserves this fall in order to pursue a career as an Instructional Designer.

I am in my first semester of the IST EdD program. I chose this program at IU because I believe that it is perfectly suited to my interests and needs. I especially loved looking at the course offerings as I was excited to see a list of interesting courses all chock full of all the things that I want to learn. If I could take all of the courses that I want to take, I would be in this program for ten years! So, I will try to exercise restraint. I also like that the program seemed to be quite “outside the box” compared to most of the other programs that I looked at.

You’ve probably already figured out that I love teaching and learning, but I definitely have other passions in life as well. I love reading, cooking, traveling, and spending time with my family. I have also developed a recent interest in ballroom dancing and am having a marvelous time dancing for fun.

Here are some pictures 🙂